Eco-Stiletto: Kristin Canty: Our Eco Hero ID’s Hers

Kristin Canty envisions a world where family farms can produce sustainably in peace. Amen to that, sister.

Some of us know our calling right from the get-go. For others, it takes a crisis to kickstart our life’s mission. You can count Kristin Canty in the latter group. It wasn’t until her young son fell victim to debilitating allergies and asthma that the mom of four discovered the benefits of raw milk—after he guzzled the stuff and almost immediately kicked those allergies to the curb.

But when Canty found out that the small family farmers that produced her son’s raw milk raced draconian regulations, government threats and armed raids, she knew she had to get the message out. Which is how a New England mom who grew up on canned food and TV dinners became an eco-activist, a government gadfly and, lucky for us, a first-time filmmaker. Her documentary Farmageddon reveals the intense challenges and sometimes violent threats faced by thousands of sustainable growers, and what they, and others, are doing to fight them. Part Five of Five.

ES: What’s your worst eco-sin?

KC: Right now it’s probably air travel. I am traveling a lot more than usual right now for the movie. My biggest eco food sin is probably triple cream cheese imported from France. If U.S. regulators would ease up the regulations for our U.S. farmers we could have some great raw soft local cheeses available locally.

ES: Who’s your eco-hero and why?

KC: All of the farmers and consumers that are in my movie and not in my movie that are trying to make a difference are my eco-heroes. One of the farmers featured in my movie that is well known, and a huge hero of mine is Joel Salatin. He has written a lot of books on the subject that my movie tries to cover, and is a frontrunner in the grass-fed/rotated-pasture beef movement. He has shown a lot of other farmers that it can be done and taught them how. I am so grateful that he has taken the time to speak out about the issue. It is very tough to be an activist and a farmer because obviously farming is more than a full time job, and so is activism.

ES: What’s the biggest green change you’d like to make in your life—even if it’s impossible right now?

KC: I’d like to drive a smaller car, but I need to fit a family of six and two dogs in my car, so that is currently not an option.

ES: What is one thing that we all can do today to make the world a greener place?

We can all make conscious choices about what we put into our bodies. No matter what kind of diet you follow or foods you eat, we should all try to think as much as we can about how that food was produced.

The blog is the brainchild of Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, a former CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World who was editor of Children magazine—before she had three of her own. Rachel was featured in Los Angeles and Lucky magazines and has appeared on “Today,” “Access Hollywood” and “CNN Headline News,” among others. She is a writer, consultant and pre/postnatal yoga teacher, who also helps families with Healthy Home Assessments. Rachel can also be found on HuffPo Parents, at www.MommyGreenest.com, https://www.facebook.com/MommyGreenest on Facebook, at YouTube.com/RachelSarnoff and tweeting regularly as @RachelLSarnoff.